EAST LANSING, MICH. – Illinois volleyball topped Michigan State at the Breslin Center, sweeping the Spartans on Friday night.
The triumph over MSU moved the Fighting Illini to 12-13 overall and 7-8 in Big Ten play. The Spartans dropped to 10-16 this year and 1-14 in conference action.
The Illini battled back-and-forth with the Spartans to start the match, with neither team jumping out by more than a pair. The teams saw 19 ties and 7 lead changes during the frame, but Rylie Hinton amassed back-to-back kills to put away the 25-23 triumph in the opening set.
The Fighting Illini took an early 7-4 lead, capped off by a kill from Raina Terry. However, a 5-0 turn favored MSU, leading to an Illinois timeout trailing 13-8. Michigan State recorded another rally to hold the 1-9 edge. The Orange and Blue did not go away quietly, posting a 4-0 run to creep within three. Three-straight by the Illini including an ace by Diana Brown put the Illini behind 21-20, resulting in a Michigan State timeout. Illinois added a pair following the break to hold the one-point advantage, Terry gave the Illini set point and an attack error by MSU closed out a 15-5 run for Illinois and the 25-23 victory in the second stanza.
Holding all the momentum, the Fighting Illini took an early 7-3 lead after Brooke Mosher recorded back-to-back service aces. An MSU 6-0 rally took away the Illini’s edge, leaving the Orange and Blue down 13-11 before using a timeout. Three-straight…
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